Chasing Rabbits
by OrangeMonk3y
Summary: So this is kinda... Gunslinger Girl Meets FF7? Sorta? Well, you'll see if you read, and yeah, got nothin' else. :D
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: I'll Be Your Number One With A Bullet...

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><p>Tearing down alleyways and backstreets of the huge city, heading straight for the slums, the two insurgents didn't even consider that they might be being followed after their latest terrorist bombing, after all there was only a small boy riding his tri-cycle up ahead and... wait. A black car with blacked out windows just happened to turn the corner too fast and was immediately recognized as Shin-Ra issue, or in other words, government issue. The two took off down the street, wondering what they should do when they were about to pass by the little blonde haired boy and his trike. The one on the left snatched the poor boy up and held him up in front of himself, pointing his gun towards the car that had begun rapidly approaching them when they realized they'd been made. The other continued down the street turning a corner as a blonde woman stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicle, demanding the man release the boy, a look of utter contempt on her face. "I'll let him go, after I get far enough away. You pigs stay put like the good dogs you are or you can shoot through the boy, I don't care but the press might, and you can't have the people reading about how Shin-Ra authorized the killing of a kindergartener!" He shouted as he backed his way up down the street. For a moment it looked like the lady was going to shoot him anyway, but at the last moment, she looked over inside the car, apparently receiving an order, and he turned the corner. He ran and after a while caught up to his partner, with the boy still in tow.<p>

"How could you let them get away like that!" she demanded of the man inside the car on the driver's side. "Elena." He replied simply, not giving her an answer as he pulled the car back into drive and proceeded with caution along down the road. He drove for about ten minutes, then turned into an old abandoned church's parking lot. There, he stepped out of the car and looked at his watch, before holding his hand up to his ear and asking, "Are you at their base?" "Hmm... I see. Take care of it now then." Stepping out of the car herself, Elena asked, "Rude? Who are you talking to?"

The two eventually returned to their hideout of sorts, still keeping the boy as a hostage, just in case. Actually, they never really intended to release him, he was either going to join their cause, Avalanche, the anti-Shin-Ra terrorist group, or die. Those were his options. They had to hand it to the kid though, he hadn't cried at all, or spoken for that matter. Then, out of the blue he asked, "Is this your hideout?" The two looked at each other, then replied with some haughtiness, "Yeah, this is our base, see we get our own away from headquarters 'cause we're that good." "Oh, I see. So do you know where your headquarters is?" This question seemed to put the two on edge, more out of some indignation and rage rather than actual worry, "Listen, nobody knows where headquarters is!" then they left the room for a moment, intent on watching the news coverage of their bombing, leaving the boy alone sitting on a box. After a moment, they must have realized that maybe the kid would run if given the chance and so the taller one opened the door and found the boy in the same spot except he had his hand over his ear. "Alright, come over here. You're comin' in here with us so we can keep an eye on you." "Right now?" the boy replied absently, as though he wasn't speaking to the terrorist at all. "Yeah, right now! Git yer butt over here you brat!" "Yes, sir." he replied as he jumped down from the box. Landing in a crouched position, the boy reached into his boot and pulled out a small hunting knife, which he rushed and implanted into the man's kneecap before jumping up, using the knife as a landing and kicked the man full in the face. the man landed with a firm thud and before he could utter any sort of distress, his throat was slashed from ear to ear, spewing arterial spray all over the little boy, covering him in red, making his blue eyes almost... glow. The other terrorist stood even less chance against the little assassin, and he was dead before he even knew what hit him, the little arm thrusting a knife between his ribcage and directly into his heart before ripping it out again with a force that most adults couldn't muster. After the job was done, he reached his tiny hand up to his earpiece again and stated, "I'm done."

"Elena…" Rude started, but didn't finish. Instead he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, then handed the phone over to Elena. "Hello? Rude? Hello?" The person on the other line, although familiar, was apparently just as confused as Elena was at Rude's behavior. "Um, sir? Tseng, sir? Um, Elena here. Rude handed me the phone?" "Oh, Elena. Yes, um… Ahem. Elena, as you know, you have been promoted to the Turks. An elite group of agents dedicated to keeping the peace for Shin-Ra and president Rufus. But what you haven't been briefed on is the methods we employ. Every Turk is partnered with a member of SOLDIER, a highly trained operative who specializes in, well, assassination, weaponry, and infiltration. You will be further debriefed when you arrive at headquarters." With that the call was ended, leaving Elena to return the phone to Rude who was still as silent as ever. "So, Tseng told me about um, your partner. Is that who you were talking to?" "Yes." Rude replied stoically and then remained silent until Elena asked what they were doing waiting outside the abandoned church. "Oh! Wait! Are we waiting for your partner?" Elena supplied her own answer before Rude actually had a chance to. The two didn't have to wait too long for Rude's "partner" to show up, much to Elena's surprise. A small blonde haired boy, actually the same one who had been kidnapped earlier by the terrorists strangely, appeared from the opposite side of the old parking lot. This time, however, when he appeared his face and arms were covered in blood. Elena reacted first, and raced over towards the boy, only to have Rude grab her arm quickly and jerk her back. "Rude! He's hurt!" Elena rebuked as she spun around towards the man. The next moment she heard Rude say "Cloud, stand down." Then she turned around and saw the little boy was holding a small knife in his hand, ready to strike her in the femoral artery. "Elena, this is Cloud, SOLDIER 1st class."

Elena had remained silent the entire ride back to headquarters, occasionally eyeing the strange boy riding in the backseat. As soon as she returned to headquarters, she was met by Tseng, the head of the Turks and her boss. "Elena, come with me. I'm going to show you the complex." And Elena did as she was told, following along behind her boss. Eventually, after they passed by a large field with some structures in it and a shooting range, past also a huge obstacle course, and then inside some type of dormitory, she spoke, "Sir? Why children? I understand the need for SOLDIER operatives, I'm not naive, but why children? Wouldn't it be better to-" "That was never our decision." A man said as he descended the staircase towards Tseng and Elena, reaching the bottom of the stairs as Elena and Tseng both snapped to attention. "President Rufus, sir! I apologize for questioning our methods, sir." Elena recited formally while not making eye contact with the president. "Elena, isn't it? You are new, so the mistake will be overlooked, for now; however, being promoted to the Turks means that you are no longer a grunt in Shin-Ra, you are tasked with upholding the peace and also with keeping our secrets, so insubordination is not looked on kindly, this will be your only warning." Rufus explained to her, then with a hand gesture to Tseng, continued along on his way down the hallway until he was out of sight. "Elena, you would do well to keep your inquiries to yourself in this place, you're a Turk now, any questions you may have, weigh them first against whether or not it benefits the company, then find the answers on your own." Tseng said solemnly then began to lead her further down the winding corridors and passages in the complex, listing certain areas which she may want to become familiar with such as the common area for the Turks, the Turks' dormitory area, and finally the debriefing room, which he led her into. "Alright Elena, now you will be debriefed on your objective."

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><p>Author's Note: Okay, yeah, I know... i haven't updated any of my other stories in forever, but a triple roll car wreck will do that to you, so yeah, fit hit the shan and I was unable to update, I'm working on it... this story had been done, just sitting on my computer, so I decided to post it finally. :) Also, I am STILL WORKING on my other fics, don't give up on me, I just... life, y'know? So, yeah, um... Read, Review, and Rejoice, I am making my come-back. ...btw: Next chapter does have a bit of BORING EXPLANATION in it, so bear with me, okay? ;D<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: A Loaded God-Complex, Cock It And Pull It

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><p>He hated this... the wait. It always took people forever to issue a kill order it seemed, even longer if you wanted to blow half the city, and why? Geez, just blame the Avalanche scumbags, then they'll get mad and come out saying it it was Shin-Ra and not them, then he and his partner would just kill all of them too. See? A perfect plan... Too bad Tseng would never go for it. He was pulled away from his contemplations about how much he'd like to level half the city and mass murder hundreds of Avalanche imbeciles by a perky voice ringing into his ear via his earpiece. "Heeeey, I'm bored... I'm gonna go look for treasure, okay!" "Whatever, okay? But just be ready to kill people when I get the "go ahead". Effing headquarters, taking forever..." he grumbled off unintelligibly.<p>

"Now, as much as you may be tempted to interrupt, don't, okay Elena? I am going to tell you your objective, but first I am going to explain a few things about SOLDIER, the program, the agents, and the reason all the 1st class operatives are children. First, SOLDIER operatives are, well, they aren't human, not anymore. There is a surgery, or rather a few surgeries and some gene manipulation, and also some chemical therapy that they undergo to make them faster, stronger, and well, better than the average agent. As you may assume, there aren't many who undergo this process, as it is very taxing on the subjects mental stability we learned, sadly. The person who invented the technique was a brilliant scientist named Dr. Gast. Dr. Gast was a very practical man, logical and calculating, but he was also very kind-hearted as well, and he always took into account what the effects of the treatments could have on the patients, never putting them through too much stress at one time."

"...However, his two lab assistants, Prof. Hojo and Dr. Lucretia, they were not so kind-hearted and after Dr. Gast's untimely death, it was up to them to continue the project. It all came to rest on Prof. Hojo's head, however, as Dr. Lucretia disappeared shortly after Dr. Gast's research was distributed to the two of them. Prof. Hojo no longer works here at Shin-Ra, not because he retired, but because he fled after it was discovered he had been experimenting humans not signed up and willing to be part of the SOLDIER program. Those subjects were three children, two boys and one girl. The boys we deemed SOLDIER 1st class operatives, as it was apparently Prof. Hojo's intent to create super-human weapons out of innocent children. Cloud you met earlier, yes? That is Rude's partner and also the youngest of the three, and I'm sure you will meet the other two in due time, just be careful what you say around them, understand? We aren't sure what or how exactly they were conditioned, which is why they are only paired up with senior agents, agents who are capable we believe of taking them down should it be necessary. Now that you know most everything, I will explain your mission. It is your mission to track down and bring back Professor Hojo, as we do believe he is still alive. Also, We want you to retrieve as much information about the specific experiments Prof. Hojo did to the SOLDIER 1st class operatives as well as see if you can uncover anything about the whereabouts of Dr. Lucretia Cresent as well, as I am certain she had something to do with some of this. Also, as to your position and rank here, you may feel free to ask any questions of anyone or investigate any matters that you feel are relevant to your objective, and remember you report only to me and the president. That is all, dismissed." And with that, Elena walked out of the briefing room, her head full of questions which were unanswered by the debriefing, like who and where were the other two children who'd been experimented on?

Running around the disturbingly poorly lit and dank alleyways with his arms held out to the sides like an airplane he went, just waiting for his Turk companion to tell him it was time to kill people and stop "looking for treasure" as he himself had put it. He liked looking about, seeing if he could find anything nifty or cool to bring back to the others, they were sure to get a kick out of most anything he brought back, as they both didn't really get a chance to explore the outside world much. But that was fine too, because the outside world is full of people who'd hurt them, just like before... His deep thoughts were quickly shifted away, just as soon as they'd happened, by the sight of something shining off in the distance. He was about to head over and inspect the shiny when he heard his Turk ally through his earpiece. "Heya! Well, so headquarters wouldn't let me blow up half the city, we still get to blow the base, seems like they narrowed it down, which is unfortunate, but anyway, head towards the fire and kill everything that moves, got it?" "Okey-dokey!" he smiled back, running on down the alleyway and scooping up the shiny object into his hand as he passed where it had been.

Heading back to the car and retrieving her laptop and her other personal effects, Elena began to try and formulate a plan for figuring out the location of this mysterious Professor Hojo or even Doctor Lucretia, finding either of the two would surely lead to more answers. Her first order of business would be to research all the data the company had on them, down to favorite flavor ice cream, she was determined to be thorough. She'd been tasked with a major objective, one that she was determined to complete, but that brought another question up, why had she been chosen? What possible reason would President Rufus have for bringing in a newly promoted agent and giving them such an important task? Did he distrust someone in the company, could there have been a spy? Or was he secretly subverting the entire endeavor by bringing in an inexperienced agent and giving her a task she couldn't possibly hope to accomplish? This was another angle she'd have to look into as well, but for now she had way too much catch-up to do, starting with scientific research papers... fun.

A sudden explosion had rocked the building to it's core and the remaining Avalanche insurgents that were still alive were in a mad bustle of confusion before their leader finally calmed them down, shouting her orders above the chaos. "I want everyone to arm themselves, then I want you to proceed to rendezvous point 18, alright? And watch out for those Shin-Ra scum, I'm sure they're behind this attack, and they are probably still out there waiting to pick up any survivors. Show them no mercy and fall upon them like the mighty rocks of mother earth, AVALANCHE!" With the troops rallied around her, she felt confident that nothing, no Shin-Ra dogs in least could stop them from reaching their rendezvous point and completing their mission to bomb the number #3 reactor... that was until the strange little black-haired boy jumped through the flames yelling "SURPRISE!" then proceeding to take the sword, which was as tall as he was, if not taller, off his back and commence slicing through her cohorts. Who was that kid? And how or why was he doing this? Just as she contemplated this she heard a familiar smug voice shout out, "Heeey, looky here, Zack! We got ourselves the 'queen of Avalanche' right here, how about that? It's none other than the biggest skank in the world, Tifa Lockheart herself!" The boy, who he had apparently addressed as Zack, was too engrossed in slicing through her group of agents while smiling the most adorable and endearing smile in the universe, something truly disturbing to the core, to pay any attention to the tall lanky red-head. "Reno! I should have known from the explosion! You're disgusting, all of you Shin-Ra scum, I hate you all! Making innocent children do your dirty work, how grotesque! You and your president can rot! And you just happened to get the drop on us today, but I'll be back!" she screeched at him before running off down a pre-planned escape route, the entry to which collapsed behind her.

Well, about the only thing more interesting than scientific research documents was just about anything, and after about 8 hours of deciphering hand written notes and scientific jargon, she'd had enough. So it seemed like this Hojo guy was a major sociopath and he had a god-complex to boot! Whereas this was all very fascinating, none of it hinted at where he could have disappeared to, so it was useless to her mission of finding him, an utter waste of time, especially since she really understood none of the science/experiment jargon. She pondered what to do for a moment, in a normal investigation or man-hunt she would have questioned neighbors, co-workers, even family but this Hojo creep had no family, neighbors, and his only co-worker was Dr. Lucretia, and she'd disappeared before he did. ...then the thought dawned on her, maybe, just maybe, that wacko had said something to the kids while he was experimenting on them, she'd have to ask but she had been given the authority to ask anyone anything by Tseng, hadn't she? So off she went, to go find one of the children to question, preferably Cloud, as she'd already met him and so she wouldn't be a total stranger asking weird questions, they were still kids after all.

"Well," Reno said after pulling a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lighting it in the smoldering fires of the burning building, "Guess that's that. Was a pretty cool explosion though at least, am I right?" "Oh yeah! I'll bet even Cloud and Aerith saw it!" Zack smiled back at him, his white teeth glistening against the bloodstained red he was covered in. "Alright, let's head on back, I guess." Reno finished, putting his cigarette in his mouth and roughing up Zack's spiky black hair.

After scouring the entire complex, she finally found the little blonde-haired boy she was looking for in the hallway about to head off towards the helipad it seemed. "Cloud!" She hurriedly called out to catch his attention as she briskly walked over towards him, catching up to him as he hesitantly turned around to face the much taller, even though quite short herself, blonde woman with unexpectedly loud clicky heels on. "Cloud, I hope you don't mind me addressing you as such, but anyhow, I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding your time with Professor Hojo." "Um..." "Yes, okay, don't worry about if I have clearance or not, I assure you I have been given free range to investigate this matter, if you would like you can talk to Rude later who can confirm with Tseng afterwards, for now let's just get onto business. Okay, do you remember the location of the laboratory where you were being held?" "No..." "Alright, do you remember anything about the tests that were conducted on you? Any special color liquid you had to drink, anything like that?" "...No..." "Hmm, alright, do you remember anyone else being there?" "...no... wait... silver-hair? … No, that wasn't... I shouldn't... it didn't..." As soon as she'd asked the question, he'd grabbed onto his head with his tiny hands, like the mere act of trying to recall these thoughts hurt him somehow, which truly confused Elena. She hadn't meant to hurt the poor little guy, but after he finally stopped his rambling he collapsed on the ground curling up in pain shouting even more unintelligible stuff through his pained tears. Elena was really quite shocked now, she had been told to be careful hadn't she? Now what? She'd broken one of the fearsome SOLDIERs, what more could go wrong? Little did she know it, she was about to find out...

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><p>Author's note: Your patience has been rewarded, well, at least for this fic... Yeah, I'm just super stumped on my other ones... Anyhoo... So, yeah, Elena does get a major role in this fic but I didn't put her in the "Characters" section because, well... nobody reads fics about Elena? So sorry if you do, but I just mean that as a general statement, but anyway, you'll like this so stick with it. Also, what do you guys think of my partnering up of Reno and Zack? I love those two... and they're both so obnoxious on occasion... :D they make me laugh... Yes, Reno is a pyromaniac and Zack is slightly homicidal, but that's all Kosher with the FF7 storyline anyhow. ...oh yeah... I hate Tifa... so... yeah... but she is kinda a self-righteous BEEEOTCH anyway, so it kinda fits. ...although, gotta admit, I did like the slap fight she had versus Scarlett in FF7... pwned that old skank! ;P Well, until next time...<p> 


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